Mexico weekly ledger., 1887-07-14
DREAD DISEASE.
L Letter FROM DIR. Paul Paaaln Con
corning the Audrain Cattle
Trouble.
Correspondence OF the Ledger.

correspondence Oh the tSuSeI.
CENTRALIA, No.. July 6.-DEAR
SIR: As / wait for a train this even
ing my attention is drawn to a few
lines in your last issue, denoting
much fear and apprehension among
live stock people of Rush Hill, on ac-
count of the cattle disease existing
there. I have been on the ground
and have already explained what, in
myjudgment, the malady is; but as few
were present I think it my duty to
explain the matter publicly, and l
trust that as it is of much public i'm
portance, other papers in the neigh
borhood will please reproduce the
essential parts of this letter, which
/ write for the benefit of all concern
ed.
This disease may be found in re-
cent, and some ancient, reliable Eng
lish works on veterinary science, un-
der the title of Anthrax Fever,
Splenie Fever, Charbonous Apo
plexy, etc. All these terms merely
indicate some of the symptoms and
LESSONS observed. Hence their adop-
ton which does not explain the ma
ture of the disease ; and in fact I may
state here that there r several at
fections of close resemblance in many
respects that come under the above
names-one is Texas fever.
The name Charlton, or Charboneus
Fever is from the French coal, be-
cause certain organs, as we will see
are almost coal-like in color. An
thrax, a burning coal, is a termed
used by many writers.
Difaition-The affection consists
in a particular alienation of the
blood, apparently due to the presence
and development of a micro-organ-
ism-go called germ-the introduce
tor of which into the system, takes
place by various means. There seems
to be no romance or fiction about
this micro-organism, which, although
very minute, can be appreciated with
the microscope, and cultivated to
many generations in beef, broth, etc,
outside of the living animal.
General Symptons-Cattle sudden
ly go off their feet; rumination
(chewing cud) is suspended; trem,
bling may be observed and may be
some perspiration in various local
spots. The gait soon becomes stag
gering; the head swings slowly from
one side to the other. Most of the
time the animal is down, and il
forced to rise, does it with great diff
fculty, for exhaustion is very rapid
the pulse is fast and the heart beats
with force !; there may be a cough
the urine is Of q bloody and ther
dark coffee color with a more or@ess
strong odor; sometimes q certain
amount of viscous matter escapes
from the mouth and occasionally
little bloody mucous from the nose.
All those symptoms, however, may
not appear or some may pass unno-
ticed.
Death may occur very suddenly,
but nevertheless we find slow cases.
For instance it happens that animals
are unweil for several days, having a
remittent fever, feeble pulse, hurried
breathing, hot mouth, etc, when all
seems 20 come in about natural order
for a short while but in many in
stances an animal that was apparent
" in good health q few hours prev
iousig, is found dead in the pasture.
Post norton Appearances-The
most marked LESSONS found are en-
largement of the spleen and liver.
These organs are at first congest-
ed, but soon their tissues, especially
the tissues of the spleen, are greatly
altered and become dlsintegrated.
The substance forming the latter
organ becomes soft, broken down
and OF somewhat tarry nature-a tar
like bloody matter distending its
capsule or covering which is left ap-
parentiy intact.
In some forms this tarry appear
ance Is found in the bowels. Occas-
ionally also we find the lungs conges-
ted. In such cases, if the dis
eased animal lasts long enough, the
blood thus congesting the lungs
may pass into circulation and thus
cause death by ~septIcemia blood
poisoning). The urine is found to be
il bloody, generally OF a dark coffee
color, as before stated. In some
cases / have examined, it contained
an extraordinary amount Of albumen,
q fact which the authors / have
studied do not mention.
Tfnnsmissiblay.-The affection in
question is classified among the con-
tagious maladies. Its transmissibil-
ity however, seems to depend entire
" on the direct introduction of the
contagium, or virus, or micro-organ-
isms into the system by the alimen-
tary canal or possibly by other
means of incubation. But this virus
or contagious matter does NOT seem
to. be distributed through the air.
Observations point towards its being
found Ia certain pastures where all
cattle that may Craze may become
affected. From this it is but reason
bic to believe that animals feeding
on such pastures and thst take the
E